Declare Pluto a Planet #PlutoFlyby

Today, the New Horizons mission finally reaches Pluto for the first time in human history. While Pluto is one of the most beloved planets, the future of space exploration and Pluto’s planetary status hang in the balance. We now call upon you to help with your signature.

Not long after New Horizons was launched in 2006, the International Astronomical Union stripped Pluto of its planethood because it was different than the other 8 planets that we committed to memory.

By declaring that Pluto was no longer a planet, the IAU put into place a planetary definition that would have even declassified Earth as a planet if it existed as far from the Sun as Pluto does.

But this is about much more than planetary definitions. When bureaucratic bodies with little expertise in planetary science choose to create inaccurate definitions of planets, they threaten to suppress millions of dollars in funding for future generations of space exploration.

The IAU meets again for its general assembly in August 2015. And in the coming weeks, New Horizons will collect unprecedented amounts of data about the Pluto system, calling in to question the definition set forth by the IAU.

If thousands of people demand that Pluto be reclassified as a planet at the same time as New Horizons sends down the data to prove it, we can reignite a generation of future planetary exploration.

Pluto has received an outpouring of persuasive appeals to re-include and honor the planet, and in consideration of that Yahoo's 'Other Space' and Paul Feig have rallied the support of planetary experts including physicist Dr. Phil Metzger and are asking for your help.

It’s time for science to take precedence over semantics. Tell the IAU that Pluto is a planet, and New Horizons will prove it.

This petition is supported by:

Paul Feig, creator of 'Other Space' and 'Freaks and Geeks,' director of 'Bridesmaids' and 'Ghostbusters 3'